24V AWD Swap Knowledge Base

[Nisse Järnet]

What about M54B30? I have one in the garage which i might swap the internals from my forged M50B28 to later for a lighter engine :)

Is M52 rare over there? We have loads of M52 and M54, just saw a M52B28 for $180 But shipping one over isnt gonna be cheap :P

[nando]

still only 225bhp and they don't like to rev. The head on the N52 is significantly better (it's similar to the S54 design). the D ports on the M54 are terrible. N52 is still lighter than an M54.

There's no real cost difference and there's no upside to an M54 or M52 vs an N52. What's the point? either way I have to make a custom oil pan and the only difference is which motor I'm making it for. :)

we have lots of M52s but they were mostly iron blocks. only the Z3 got the aluminum version. I mean, yeah you can get maybe 250hp out of an M52, but that won't be cheap.. N52 comes with that stock!

[Nisse Järnet]

Yeah if im going to use M54 i will put in my 2.8 crank because of the 3.0 rev-problems.
But i might have to look into N52 instead, didnt really think of that! Now i have some reading to do :) Do you know if the bolt pattern for the gearbox is the same as M50?

Ah ok, all of our M52 is aluminum :P

[stonea]

Yeah if im going to use M54 i will put in my 2.8 crank because of the 3.0 rev-problems.

Are you talking about the oil sprocket? There are fixes out there for it. VAC makes one, but theres a guy on e46 fanatics who makes a 100% "never have to worry about it" fix.

Do you know if the bolt pattern for the gearbox is the same as M50?

M54 has the same bolt pattern as the m50


I'm looking at doing a M52tu swap and have done a bit of research on it. Basically if you use Andrew325is' engine adapter harness its not hard at all. Well except for the AWD part...

Also oil pickup is different between the m50 and m54 so you'll have to modify your pick up on the m54 if your using a e34ix pan. That and the availability of parts is the reason I'm looking into the x5 route.

[Nisse Järnet]

Are you talking about the oil sprocket? There are fixes out there for it. VAC makes one, but theres a guy on e46 fanatics who makes a 100% "never have to worry about it" fix.



M54 has the same bolt pattern as the m50


I'm looking at doing a M52tu swap and have done a bit of research on it. Basically if you use Andrew325is' engine adapter harness its not hard at all. Well except for the AWD part...

Also oil pickup is different between the m50 and m54 so you'll have to modify your pick up on the m54 if your using a e34ix pan. That and the availability of parts is the reason I'm looking into the x5 route.

Yeah oil sprockets and harmonic balancer. People seems to have problems with those at higher RPM. I have the VAC shaftt upgrade in my M50 just for safety :)

I know M54 is the same, but im not sure about N52?

Im using after market ECU so wiring is not an issue :)
Ok modified pickup is not a big problem, but sure X5 is easier!

Argh i dont know what to do, the M50 is great but a lighter engine is always nice! But the old saying "dont fix it if it aint broken" also comes into mind :P

[nando]

the N52 bellhousing bolt pattern is the same, yes.

you could do all of that stuff and make it live at higher RPM. or, you could get an engine that is better out of the box. :p

no reason not to use the stock DME.. it's very advanced. other than a $20k Pectel or something, most aftermarket stuff is going to be inferior (including Megasquirt).

X5 oil pan isn't going to work any better than E34 unfortunately. The choices as I see it:

1. M50ix frankenpan (engine at wrong tilt angle)
2. E34 or X5 with modified firewall (move the engine back 2").
3. custom subframe
4. modified oil pan with same diff centerline as the E30 ix

I'm opting for #4, in which case it really doesn't make any difference what motor I'm using.

[The Dark Side of Will]

More power than the S52?
I'd heard both that the 270 HP DI version did and did not make it to the US... I assume it actually did?

[stonea]

I think I might lean towards the custom subframe. That way I can make progress on my 24v swap and also get an "A" in my Industrial Design class.

[nando]

More power than the S52?
I'd heard both that the 270 HP DI version did and did not make it to the US... I assume it actually did?

330i US spec is 255hp stock. Assuming a 15% drivetrain loss, I made 264bhp with only VANOS & VVT tweaks (I didn't even bother to remove the charcoal filter in the stock airbox - it's completely stock). I've since added ignition tweaks and picked up a bunch of mid-range (haven't been back to the dyno yet). Then there's the prospect of headers & cams.

I think I might lean towards the custom subframe. That way I can make progress on my 24v swap and also get an "A" in my Industrial Design class.

Dude if you're interested let me know. I want to sell my E34 stuff, and I'm not necessarily expecting to get what I paid for all of it. The most difficult part to find are the CV shafts, I looked for over a year and haven't seen any other sets. They're in mint shape too, a lot of shit from Europe is rusty. If you want to think the Germans take care of a 25 year old car, they don't. lol

I have everything except the transmission - the oil pan, 2 front diffs, a matching rear diff (needs to be assembled into an E30 case), CV shafts, etc. You could make a G260 with a 24v bellhousing like I did, or use a ZF 320 with the E34ix rear cover I have and a different transfercase.

I got the front ABS sensors I want to use; soon I'm going to send my front struts out to ForcedFirebird to have them matched to the E46 xi tie rods. if you're doing a subframe you may as well do the rack too!

[stonea]

I'll let you know on that, but first my Z3 needs a lot of work. Its going in for body work and a full respray in the next week or two and I just picked up some CSL replica wheels that still needs some tires, and on top of all of that she just hit 65,000 miles and its time to start thinking about new suspension bits. Once I know how much the paint set me back I'll PM you about some of the parts.

[Nisse Järnet]

the N52 bellhousing bolt pattern is the same, yes.

you could do all of that stuff and make it live at higher RPM. or, you could get an engine that is better out of the box. :p

no reason not to use the stock DME.. it's very advanced. other than a $20k Pectel or something, most aftermarket stuff is going to be inferior (including Megasquirt).

X5 oil pan isn't going to work any better than E34 unfortunately. The choices as I see it:

1. M50ix frankenpan (engine at wrong tilt angle)
2. E34 or X5 with modified firewall (move the engine back 2").
3. custom subframe
4. modified oil pan with same diff centerline as the E30 ix

I'm opting for #4, in which case it really doesn't make any difference what motor I'm using.

Ok cool!

Haha yes that might be better :D But I wonder how N52 handles boost, only seen mild supercharger setups.

I would be using my Autronic no matter the engine, I like it too much :)

Regarding custom subframe I would really check out the E46xi subframe, it would probably fit relatively eqsi and is all iron so its easy to mod to fit what pan and steering you like.
I already checked the E34ix subframe and thats by far the easiest option in think but it would be hard to find for you guys..but E46xi shouldn't?

[nando]

if you want boost do an N54 or N55. :p

yeah that's not a bad idea. the only thing I don't like about it is it will be much heavier than the aluminum subframe. maybe you could use the E46 suspension parts too - including the xi rack, which is like 5x quicker than the E30's. lol

[Nisse Järnet]

if you want boost do an N54 or N55. :p

yeah that's not a bad idea. the only thing I don't like about it is it will be much heavier than the aluminum subframe. maybe you could use the E46 suspension parts too - including the xi rack, which is like 5x quicker than the E30's. lol

Yeah that would be awesome but I don't think they are easy to find and pretty expensive :P

Yeah that's the downside but its easy to modify :)
Not sure about suspension parts, but it would be great! Haha don't remind on the E30 rack :D

[Nisse Järnet]

It wasn't that bad, I found a couple N54 for around $3600 hmm tempting!

[nando]

they're aluminum with steel sleeves, so still fairly light. the head on the N52 is better but what can you do..